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Page added on September 13, 2014
With Gas Cut Off, Ukraine Looks West
Keeping Ukraine warm keeps Andriy Kobolev up at night.
Mr. Kobolev, the head of Ukraine’s state energy company, Naftogaz, is scrambling to keep gas flowing into his country as winter looms. Russia’s energy giant, Gazprom, had provided a little more than half of Ukraine’s total gas supply, but suspended its shipments in June in the face of fighting in eastern Ukraine between Russian separatists and the Ukrainian military, citing a price dispute. Europe — itself dependent on Russia but also expanding sanctions on the country — has not been able to fill the gap.
That means Ukraine will have to cut its energy use sharply or risk running dry, which could lead to more civilian deaths when the weather turns cold, and could further batter the country’s economy.
“The situation is very difficult,” Mr. Kobolev said in a recent interview. “Since we have no choice, no other solution, we’ll find a solution and have to live with the amount of gas we will have.”
He spoke at a hotel in this city near Slovakia, just a few hours after he took part in a news conference on the other side of the border. The Slovak and Ukrainian prime ministers had held a ceremonial “switching on” of a gas pipeline that will allow the Slovaks to provide some capacity to Ukraine, but far less than the Ukrainians wanted.
Afterward, Mr. Kobolev and other company officials got in a line of three black cars — a BMW and two Hyundais — and drove a winding path through tiny border villages, zipping past a field with brown spotted cows, a shirtless man in red shorts holding a hedge trimmer, a group of boys hanging from a tree, an elderly woman wearing a kerchief.
While it was hard for an outsider to tell the two sides of the border apart, they are hardly in lock step. Mr. Kobolev and other Ukrainian officials had hoped for the so-called big reverse. In that situation, Slovakia would have been able to reverse the flow of 30 billion cubic meters or 1.06 trillion cubic feet of Russian gas annually and solve Ukraine’s looming energy crisis.
Keeping the Gas Flowing
Ukraine is scrambling to find other sources of gas after Russia cut off its supply, citing a pricing dispute.
Russia supplied Ukraine with half of the 49 billion cubic meters of gas it consumed last year.
Ukraine might need to get more of its gas from other neighbors, in particular Slovakia, Poland and Hungary.
But many saw the big reverse as, no pun intended, a pipe dream. While European Union rules bar territorial restrictions when gas is resold, and Ukraine has signed an association agreement, Gazprom objects to having its gas redirected without its approval. European regulators are in the midst of an antitrust investigation of Gazprom that is examining this issue.
Slovakia, a major thoroughfare for Russian gas heading to Italy and other points west, balked at the idea of a big reverse. Like Ukraine and much of Europe, Slovakia depends on Russia’s natural gas, so the Slovaks have been treading carefully, seeking to appease both the Russians and fellow members of the European Union.
What happens if Russia’s gas stays off?
That is the challenge facing Mr. Kobolev. At 36, he looks like a boyish junior executive, and he has been on the job only a few months, but he is resolved not to be rolled over by Gazprom.
Like many Ukrainians, his mind is preoccupied with the toll of his country’s war and anger at how it has come about. Books are one of his refuges.
“I just finished García Márquez, ‘One Hundred Years of Loneliness,’ ” he said, referring to “One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel García Márquez. “Crazy book, rocked my mind.”
He was once a lower-level executive at Naftogaz, but quit in 2010 in disgust at the government of the Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych. After the revolution in February that ousted Mr. Yanukovych, Mr. Kobolev returned to the company in the top role.
“I couldn’t work with the Yanukovych team, because they are corrupt guys,” he said, adding that the Naftogaz of that era never seemed to push back on the price demands of Gazprom. “Maybe they were just altruists, I don’t know.”
Now negotiations between the two companies are less cordial, and they no longer take place in Moscow, as they once always did, or in Ukraine for that matter.
“We don’t want to go to Moscow. They don’t want to go to Kiev,” Mr. Kobolev said.
European officials are trying to schedule talks between the sides for later this month.
Barring an end to the dispute with Gazprom, the winter is likely to be bitter. Last year Ukraine consumed about 49 billion cubic meters of gas, or 1.73 trillion cubic feet, a little more than half of which came from Gazprom.
How much gas Ukraine will use this year remains to be seen. Last year, about two billion cubic meters were consumed by Crimea, which has since been annexed by Russia, so that can be subtracted from Ukraine’s demand. The rebel-occupied Donetsk and Luhansk regions account for roughly eight billion cubic meters.
Over all, the Ukrainians believe they can get about 15 billion cubic meters from Europe annually — though about 10 billion of that would come from the Slovak pipeline, and the rest from Hungary and Poland.
“Is that enough? Probably not,” said Laurent Ruseckas, senior adviser for global gas with IHS Energy, a research and consulting firm. “By the beginning of 2015, you could start running into trouble.”
The Ukrainians had hoped to have the gas come from larger pipelines, but instead the Vojany-Uzhgorod pipeline, which was not being used, was retrofitted to send gas east. When the pipeline was opened last week, Klaus-Dieter Borchardt, the European Commission’s director of internal energy markets, acknowledged, “It is not a highway we are opening today, but it is more than a bike lane.”
Ukraine, Caught in a Vise
Behind the continuing military conflict in eastern Ukraine lies an economic split. The country is moving toward Europe, straining its longstanding ties with Russia.
Video Credit By Natalia V. Osipova on Publish Date September 2, 2014. Image CreditBulent Kilic/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Since gas is still flowing through Ukraine bound for Europe, Russia has already warned about the potential for siphoning. Russia, of course, can simply send less gas to Europe.
In a troubling portent on Wednesday, Poland halted its supply of reverse gas to Ukraine, citing a reduction in supply from Gazprom. P.G.N.I.G., the state-owned Polish oil and gas company, said in a statement that its supplies from the east had been reduced by 45 percent. Gazprom, however, denied there had been a reduction.
Robert Fico, the Slovak prime minister, has opposed sanctions on Russia, putting him at odds with many other European leaders. But Mr. Fico suggested the Slovaks struck a deal that the Russians can live with. Mr. Fico, in remarks at the news conference, called the Vojany-Uzhgorod pipeline “the only possible solution.”
Even with the new Slovak capacity, Mr. Kobolev says he believes Ukraine will have to cut its gas use by about a fifth, no small amount. That will require a 30 percent cut from industry, which he said would come from reduction of business activity in the east, switching fuels and energy savings programs. Households will have to cut their use by about 10 percent. It is another blow for a country whose gross domestic product fell 4.7 percent in the second quarter from the same period in 2013.
Part of Ukraine’s problem has been that people and businesses have been paying artificially low prices, a vestige of Soviet-era policies.
Mr. Kobolev wants to change that, and so does the International Monetary Fund, which pressured Ukrainian officials into raising gas prices as part of the aid package the country received this year. Those increases, however, do not fully phase in until 2018. The market price for gas now is still six times as high as what consumers pay, Naftogaz said.
Mr. Kobolev wants to make his country less dependent on Russia in the future.
“As long as there’s no competition, there’s guys who will squeeze all the juice from you. When there’s competition, they are very likely to come with fair market proposals,” he said. “Until there’s competition, you will never make them do that, and that’s true for Gazprom.”
That sounds good in theory, but it’s not clear how Ukraine will replace Russian gas, and Mr. Kobolev did not show his cards. Ukraine could perhaps switch some of its energy use from gas to coal, encourage more investment to increase domestic production or look to liquid natural gas. But all of that takes time.
“I have many friends who are currently out east, they are currently in military operations,” he said. “I tell myself that I’m not having the most difficult job in the world, and you should stop whining and get yourself to work.”
44 Comments on "With Gas Cut Off, Ukraine Looks West"
steve on Sat, 13th Sep 2014 10:29 am
This is when things are going to get interesting…the U.S will have to send over its gas….oh wait the U.S doesn’t have the infrastructure and needs all the gas it produces…oh well good luck Europe and Ukraine….
Plantagenet on Sat, 13th Sep 2014 10:37 am
Resistance is hard—Perhaps Ukraine should just give up and surrender to {s}Hitler{/s} Putin now.
Nony on Sat, 13th Sep 2014 10:44 am
They should just divert gas going through the country. You want to transship, you pay a tax. Simple.
Davy on Sat, 13th Sep 2014 10:54 am
Ukraine is toast and will be picked apart by Russia and the west by winter. Russia will see to it that Europe gets just enough gas to keep Europe from going cold without reverse flows to Ukr, meanwhile Ukr will descent in to anarchy and chaos.
J-Gav on Sat, 13th Sep 2014 10:59 am
With Europe busy shooting itself in both feet with their silly Russia sanctions, Poroshenko’s “We want your gas but don’t want to pay for it” Ukraine may not be the only country to suffer this winter.
penury on Sat, 13th Sep 2014 11:09 am
As Hard as it is for people to admit it, maybe just possibly Ukraine could pay for the gas that they have used and not paid for, and they could pay for the gas they intended to steal in the future. If the EU and the US are so very upset about Ukraine not receiving gas they could pay the gas bills using the money they are currently spending on increasing NATO presence in the area. Remember the money that Ukraine was given by the IMF to pay their gas bill? They used it for the military. If you work as a “Proxy” for the Empire you eat the shit you are served. Learn to enjoy.
Bob Owens on Sat, 13th Sep 2014 11:24 am
This situation is just 1 of many that are now developing world wide due to shrinking resources. We can look forward to decades of this type warfare until our resource demands shrink to a stable state, however we get there (war or co-operation). Ukraine has zero good options. Defacto partitioning is the best way out of this war situation.
Plantagenet on Sat, 13th Sep 2014 11:25 am
Maybe Russia could pay for Crimea and all the damage and deaths they have caused by invading eastern Ukraine. And while they are at it, Russia should pay compensation to the families of the people they killed by shooting down the Malaysian passenger jet.
dissident on Sat, 13th Sep 2014 11:30 am
So the EU sabotages the South Stream pipeline and then wants Russia to submit to Kiev regime blackmail. Keep dreaming in technicolor you morons.
Also funny how they think the EU can supply Ukraine with gas. From where? The EU is importing 162 billion cubic meters from Russia. So unless they are importing it for fun and not for essential needs, they will have nothing to send to Ukraine.
Poland made a big stink last week about Gazprom “reducing” supply. What actually happened is that Gazprom refused a request to ship Poland extra gas. Poland was trying to be smart and reverse flow the extra gas to Ukraine.
http://biznes.pap.pl/en/news/pap/info/1086390,update:-poland-claims-45–shortfall-in-russian-natgas-imports-as-of-wednesday
JuanP on Sat, 13th Sep 2014 11:42 am
“Russia’s energy giant, Gazprom, had provided a little more than half of Ukraine’s total gas supply, but suspended its shipments in June in the face of fighting in eastern Ukraine between Russian separatists and the Ukrainian military, citing a price dispute.”
This is pure unmitigated BS. The Ukrainians owe Gazprom billions of dollars for past deliveries, and they refuse to pay. It is the Ukrainians, not Gazprom that have violated multiple clauses in the contracts involved. If they expect to get any special discounts beyond the contractual terms while massacring the population of Novorosiya they are tripping the lights fantastic.
I will continue reading the article, even knowing it is Western propaganda, because I like to read propaganda from all sides to keep a balanced perspective.
JuanP on Sat, 13th Sep 2014 11:50 am
“Europe — itself dependent on Russia but also expanding sanctions on the country — has not been able to fill the gap.”
I have the best intention of reading this crap, but I could only move to the next sentence, which is also stupidly ridiculous.
How on Earth are the Europeans, who need to import gas, going to export enough gas to replace Gazprom supplies, unless it is by buying more gas from Gazprom? This crap is astonishing!
I remember when I liked reading the NYT, I miss that world.
What’s there left for a Pinko Commie, like me, to do, other than take care of my garden?
Davy on Sat, 13th Sep 2014 12:02 pm
Juan the ridiculousness of MSM is beyond humor it is scary. If they can talk out there ass with these issues they can talk into power a home grown corn pone Hitler type.
Norm on Sat, 13th Sep 2014 12:11 pm
Ya, let the Rooshins take over the Ukraine. etter tba trying to pay that overdue gas bill. Maybe they should go back to heating with wood.
Kenz300 on Sat, 13th Sep 2014 1:08 pm
Every country needs to develop a plan to become more self sufficient economically and in terms of their energy supplies. Relying on Russia, the Middle East or anywhere else for a large portion of their energy mix is dangerous and foolish.
If Japan can turn off 48 nuclear reactors and get by after the nuclear disaster at Fukishima then Europe and the Ukraine can get by with reduced supplies from Russia.
A combination of conservation and diversification of energy supplies should be achievable.
It is time to speed up the transition to locally produced, distributed energy production. Wind, solar, wave energy, geothermal and second generation biofuels made from algae, cellulose and waste can all be produced locally and reduce the need for imported energy from Russia.
The longer they continue to look for the same old fossil fuel solutions the longer the problem will drag on. It is time to speed up the transition to locally generated energy supplies.
—————–
The Inevitability of Solar
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2014/09/the-inevitability-of-solar
—————-
E-Bike Sales Are Surging in Europe – NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/19/business/e-bike-sales-are-surging-in-europe.html?emc=edit_th_20140819&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=21372621
GregT on Sat, 13th Sep 2014 2:25 pm
Russia has what the Ukraine needs, natural gas. The only things that Nuland, the IMF, the EU and NATO have to offer the Ukraine, is austerity and increased debt loads.
If Russia can hold back the dogs of War until winter, the sanctions will prove to be yet another failed US policy attempt at maintaining global hegemony.
rockman on Sat, 13th Sep 2014 2:28 pm
“They should just divert gas going through the country. You want to transship, you pay a tax”. So you would have the Ukrainians steal NG from the EU countries? All the Russians need do is transfer (and be paid for) the NG to the EU buyers at their border with the Ukraine. Thus Russia would be paid in full, the EU pays the Ukrainian transit fees and, as bonus, gets f*cked out of some of their NG. SOP for selling NG in the US: I sell (and get paid for) my NG at the meter on my lease. Any NG that is lost or stolen after it leaves my well is of no concern to me…it’s not my production at that point.
Nony on Sat, 13th Sep 2014 3:49 pm
Rock: they should just charge the market (EU in the end) for the value of crossing. YES. It’s their country. Who cares if the EU bought gas at the border. They don’t have a delivery method without crossing Ukraine!
P.s. And about those old debts: what’s the land value of the Crimea?
GregT on Sat, 13th Sep 2014 4:08 pm
They should just charge the market (EU in the end) for the value of crossing.
And then maybe they could pay back Russia for the gas that they have already used………..
What’s the land value of the Crimea?
What difference does it make? It still belongs to the same people as it did before. They are just represented by a different government body. One that the people actually voted for, democratically.
Nony on Sat, 13th Sep 2014 4:10 pm
The difference is the plebiscite was done under a gun.
You want to cross the Ukraine, you pay the price. Simple.
GregT on Sat, 13th Sep 2014 4:14 pm
The difference is the plebiscite was done under a gun.
Please refrain from commenting on things that you obviously know little about. And stop parroting the media propaganda, it makes you look like a simpleton.
MSN fanboy on Sat, 13th Sep 2014 5:18 pm
LOL Nony, I never took you for an idiot.
Its a good thing the west has never forced democracy on a country with a gun. LOL
Nony on Sat, 13th Sep 2014 5:21 pm
We would neeever do that. 😉
Wink, wink.
peakyeast on Sat, 13th Sep 2014 5:38 pm
The Danish media says that the sanctions hasnt hit the export of gas to europe due to necessity for several european countries. However, they also say that the european sanctions hasnt targeted stocks and other such trades which would hit russia very hard.
I suppose they are trying to scare russia out of cutting off gas by suggesting that russias trade in stocks will be cut off if that happens.
JuanP on Sat, 13th Sep 2014 7:12 pm
Nony, I think the Russians do pay Ukraine to use the pipelines running through it, the payments are called transit fees.
Nony on Sat, 13th Sep 2014 7:23 pm
Ukraine should raise the price
Makati1 on Sat, 13th Sep 2014 9:56 pm
Does anyone else see the Ukraine as the fuse for WW3? The US lit it with their overthrow of the elected government, knowing that Russia would never allow NATO/US missiles on their border.
Would the US like Russian missiles a few miles inside Mexico or Canada, along the US border? Remember the The Cuban Missile Crisis? We are now even closer to nuclear war than we were then.
GregT on Sat, 13th Sep 2014 10:10 pm
Makati,
I find it rather upsetting that the Cold War lessons appear to have been forgotten already. All options are on the table? What the hell is the matter with these people? Maybe it’s a mostly a generational issue, duck and cover isn’t exactly taught in schools anymore, and MAD doesn’t seem to register on most peoples’ radars.
I really don’t think that the masses comprehend what a War between Russia and the US would look like, and judging from the lunacy coming out of DC these days, it doesn’t appear that TPTB really care.
rockman on Sat, 13th Sep 2014 10:44 pm
“Who cares if the EU bought gas at the border”. I don’t think some folks are grasping what should be a rather obvious dynamic. First, how it was done in the past: Russia shipped NG across it’s border into the Ukraine. Some of it was sold to the Ukraine. The rest was shipped thru the Ukrainian pipeline system and sold to EU countries. Russia paid the Ukraine a transit fee to pipe the NG to the EU. And there were problems in the past when the Ukraine took some of the Russian NG heading for the EU and didn’t pay for it. In the recent past this did lead to disputes between the Ukraine and Russia.
Now it is asked who cares if the EU buys the Russian NG at the Russian/Ukrainian border? The f*cking Europeans care, you goofball. LOL. Did you not understand how I sell my NG? I get paid based upon the volume measured by my meter which is certified by the buyer. After the NG leaves my lease I don’t give a rat’s ass what happens to it: whether some of it is leaked, stolen, “lost”, etc. It’s not my problem because it’s not mine at that point. I also don’t give a rat’s ass what transit fee the pipelines charge the buyer…they pay…not me.
It’s a very simple fix for the Russians. They already meter the NG leaving the country. The EU (and the Ukrainians if they have the money) buy the NG before it leaves Russia. Then it’s up to the EU buyers to negotiate and pay the Ukraine transit fee. And if not all the NG that the EU bought makes it out of the Ukraine that’s the EU’s problem because Russia won’t give a rat’s ass because they were already paid for ALL THE NG THEY EXPORTED.
But what if the EU won’t accept such a new arrangement? Easy answer: they don’t get the f*cking NG they need to keep many of their industries going and to keep some of their folks from freezing to death. Of course Russia would lose that revenue. So who do you think will blink first: Putin, a megalomaniac that doesn’t have a problem instigating situations that harm his own people or many EU politicians whose first priority (like most politicians) is getting re-elected?
I’m not predicting this will happen. But it’s exactly what I would do if I were Putin. And I’m not a homicidal megalomaniac. It wouldn’t be personal on my part…just business. LOL.
Folks: I’m not offering some wild ass hypothetical scenario. This is exactly how almost every bit of fossil fuel is sold in the world. When the KSA sells a 3 million bbl tanker load of oil it gets paid before the oil is pumped from their storage into the tanker. What the buyer pays the shipping company and what happens to the oil in route is of no concern to the KSA. To be honest I don’t understand why Russia allowed the existing arrangement to develop. A very poor business model to say the least.
clueless on Sat, 13th Sep 2014 11:30 pm
Do not bite the hand that feeds you.
Nony on Sun, 14th Sep 2014 12:10 am
Neither Russia nor the EU owns the Ukraine. If they want to stop all gas transit or demand any transit fee they want, that is their right. Just like Obama with the bitumen.
GregT on Sun, 14th Sep 2014 1:12 am
The Ukrainian government does not ‘own’ the Ukraine, any more than the Russian government ‘owns’ Russia, or the American government ‘owns’ the USA.
In a free and democratic society, it is the people that ‘own’ the land, and it is the people that should be represented by their governments to make the decisions that the people want. Rightly or wrongly.
It is people like you, that don’t appear able to understand democratic principles, who are enabling governments to control the people, and enabling those same governments the ability to easily glide down the slippery slope to tyranny, fascism and corporatism. It is people like you, that have bought into the corporate media propaganda, that are our biggest problem.
By the people, for the people, not by the oligarchs, for the oligarchs. Stand up for the rights of the people, or lose them yourself.
Nony on Sun, 14th Sep 2014 1:51 am
Russian thug fake plebiscite.
Steve on Sun, 14th Sep 2014 4:10 am
The Gas issue in Ukraine is nothing more than Western interest to abolish Russia goods. Nothing more. Ukraine were paying the less amount of gas than any EU country. Not to mention the deals of Russia/Ukr trades that secured the energy of Ukraine. WHY all of sudden Ukraine broke all deals? It’s because OUTSIDE influences wanted to stop all trades with Ukraine. Unfortunately, NOBODY outside of Ukraine is going to cover their loss or economy.
Russia is going to be Russia today, tomorrow, and the next 50 years…but Ukraine will continue to be corrupt, poor, and stupid. It’s sad for me to say that having Ukrainian in my blood, but it’s the truth.
Makati1 on Sun, 14th Sep 2014 4:46 am
“… Putin, a megalomaniac that doesn’t have a problem instigating situations that harm his own people or many EU politicians whose first priority (like most politicians) is getting re-elected…”
I see where your prejudices lay rockman.
The psychopaths in DC started this fiasco. The rest of the world sees Putin as the good guy in this scenario. That you don’t is maybe your problem? As for the NG, ship what is owed to the EU and let them get it back from the Kiev billionaires.
BTW: Poroshenko is one of the richest Jews in the world.
simonr on Sun, 14th Sep 2014 11:51 am
BTW: Poroshenko is one of the richest Jews in the world.
would you have mentioned it if he was black ????
Davy on Sun, 14th Sep 2014 12:06 pm
Simon the expat pics and chooses his racism de jure.
rockman on Sun, 14th Sep 2014 12:44 pm
M – “I see where your prejudices lay rockman.” Nope…you don’t. I don’t see any “good guys” involved…neither east nor west. To some degree the vast majority of all nation leaders are megalomaniacs IMHO: who else would think they have the ability to manage such complex matters effectively? LOL.
Truthfully I really don’t have much of an emotional connection to any of the parties involved…Russians, Ukrainians, Europeans, Americans, etc. I just try to offer the business dynamic involved as I see it.
Makati1 on Sun, 14th Sep 2014 10:37 pm
simonr, I happen to believe that much of today’s problems come from the Jewish people of the world. Do a check on who the members of Congress are, or the major banking leaders and country leaders in the world, or the wealthiest people, and get back to me. You do not become a multi-billionaire by any legal means unless you write your own laws … check put the layers majority also.
Makati1 on Sun, 14th Sep 2014 10:39 pm
Then, simonr, go to Hollywood and see who the major producers are, the owners of the news outlets, the … get the picture? Supposedly, Poroshenko paid the Times to keep him out of their article on the world’s richest Jews so he would not be discovered as such.
dissident on Sun, 14th Sep 2014 10:49 pm
Nony, go and buy a clue. The International Court at the Hague has ruled that Kosovo secession from Serbia established a precedent. You yap about Ukraine as some sacrosanct entity. That is not international law, that is just your petty whim. Self-determination overrides national boundaries according to the Kosovo ruling. The 7 million ethnic Russians in the Donbas voted for independence.
You actually expect to be taken seriously when you implicitly assert that these people want to live under the rule of ethno-chauvinists from western Ukraine? Grow up, blowhard.
MKohnen on Sun, 14th Sep 2014 11:40 pm
Nony,
You rarely thought things out very thoroughly before, but now you seem to have completely lost it. I think Rock has done a more than admirable job trying to explain things to you. You quote “Econ 101” all the time, but methinks you actually failed that class, but keep going to the reunions hoping no one notices.
As for Crimea, as Greg pointed out, the Crimeans still own Crimea. They still own their homes, businesses, civic centers, etc. They voted to join Russia. You say this was “under the gun.” Was it also “under the gun” when they voted to stay with Russia in 1991, but were sent off with the Ukraine at the hands of the drunkard US puppet Yeltsin? And if you’re so hot under the collar that Russia should pay the Ukraine for Crimea, shouldn’t the Ukraine pay Russia for receiving the Crimea in 1954 (or in 1991)? And shouldn’t NATO pay Serbia for Kosovo, a situation that is very equivalent to Russia militarily annexing eastern Ukraine?
simonr on Mon, 15th Sep 2014 12:10 am
Makati
Essentially you are implying a pan jewish conspiracy this is the same thing that uncle Adolf did … naughty naughty, I trust you have PROOF of this ?
This is similar to saying that the people who make money training guide dogs (seeing eye dogs) are deliberately makeing people blind.
Whilst I love a good conspiracy theory I would stick to the air loom gaing.
Davy on Mon, 15th Sep 2014 6:32 am
Amen Simon, While I agree the Jews have tentacles of power worldwide they are by no means what the expat and others here imply. There is simply too many competing powers world wide even in the US.
JuanP on Mon, 15th Sep 2014 9:36 am
Rock “To some degree the vast majority of all nation leaders are megalomaniacs IMHO: who else would think they have the ability to manage such complex matters effectively? LOL.”
Rock, I totally agree. LOL. I met presidents from a number of nations from all over the world at summits and such in one of my previous lives, and found most of them to be narcissistic fools, though not necessarily unsmart, just psychologically defective.
I’ve met all the presidents my own little country has had since before I was born, some of them extremely well, and I only wish I could tell the stories I know. LOL.
My country’s most likely next president is someone I’ve known since he was in his mother’s, a former Uruguay First Lady, womb. He is a few years younger than I am.